UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee opened its 47th session in Paris on 7 July and will run through 16 July to decide whether 30 cultural, natural and mixed sites merit inscription on the World Heritage List. The agenda also includes the expansion of two existing listings and an assessment of the conservation status of 248 previously inscribed sites, 56 of which are classified as ‘in danger’. Latin America has three bids on the table: Brazil’s Parque Nacional Cavernas do Peruaçu, Panama’s Ruta Colonial Transístmica and Mexico’s 550-kilometre Ruta Huichol pilgrimage corridor. Europe’s candidates include the Neolithic megalithic alignments of Carnac in France, while Africa puts forward the Bijagos biosphere reserve in Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone’s Gola-Tiwai forests and Cameroon’s Diy-Gid-Biy cultural landscape. North Korea’s Mount Kumgang and Mongolia’s Eastern Steppes are among the other high-profile natural proposals. Opening the meeting, Director-General Audrey Azoulay said the committee must confront intensifying threats from climate change, conflict and surging visitor numbers, noting that nearly three-quarters of World Heritage sites already face severe water-related risks. UNESCO is simultaneously unveiling a digital platform that will allow real-time monitoring of damage and other hazards, part of an effort to improve protection for the more than 1,200 sites currently on the global register.